Viacom Channels Removed from Cable ONE Line-Up

3/31/2014
Phoenix, AZ

Cable ONE announced today that Viacom forced it to remove the following Viacom networks from their line-up following the expiration of the Cable ONE/Viacom contract on March 31, 2014: BET, Centric, CMT, Comedy Central, MTV, MTV2, MTV Hits, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., Nick Teen, Nick Toons, Spike, TV LAND, VH-1, and VH-1 Classic.

"Despite the fact that viewing is down on 12 of Viacom’s networks, some by as much as 30% since 2010, Viacom demanded an increase greater than 100 percent to carry all 15 of their channels,” said Cable ONE President & CEO Tom Might. “We asked for a price reduction because of their declining viewership and they refused. We also asked to drop the less popular networks and only carry the networks our customers really watch, and the rate they demanded was even higher. That means we would have to pay more, for fewer channels.”

Might said that based on Viacom’s unrealistic demands, their declining network ratings, and customer feedback, Cable ONE let these networks go and expects to add many highly-rated networks customers have been requesting and expand the carriage of others, such as BBC America, Sprout, The Blaze, Hallmark Channel, National Geographic, Investigation Discovery, TV One, Sundance and more.

“Our customers understand that we’re fighting to deliver quality TV programming at a reasonable price, and sometimes that means changing our channel line-up,” Might said. “The customer feedback we’ve received throughout these negotiations overwhelmingly told us that customers supported bringing in new channels as opposed to keeping and paying more for the large number of Viacom channels that they just don’t watch.”

Customers can view their new networks and their channel location beginning April 2 by visiting www.StopProgrammingHikes.com and selecting their city.

About Cable ONEServing more than 730,000 customers in 19 states with high speed internet, cable television, and telephone service, Cable ONE provides consumers a wide range of the latest products and services, including wireless Internet service, High-Definition programming, and phone service with free, unlimited long distance calling in the continental U.S.